google maps
Google Street View Now Covers Whole Of UK (Almost)
March 10, 2010
Initially, Google Street View was fairly controversial with many people complaining about invasion of privacy and such issues. However, those concerns have not stopped Google from expanding the service, because as of tomorrow (11th March 2010), you lucky (or unlucky depending on which side of the fence you’re sat) people in the UK will have access to a total 96% of all roads, streets and avenues across the isles.
The infamous camera cars have been out and about over the last year busily snapping up everything from busy city streets to little lanes in the middle of God knows where, there’s even been some Google Path View images captured using specially equipped trikes.
In some parts, such as the village of Broughton, the journey of the car has been somewhat treacherous with outraged protesters lining the streets creating human blockades preventing the car from snapping their streets. None the less, Google got their way in the end and we’ll all be able to go spotting more strange Street View sights in the UK with all these new images.
Continue reading »Sony Ericsson Vivaz Mobile Phone Announced
January 26, 2010
Following the recent release on the Sony Ericsson Satio which we had the pleasure of testing here at Zath, they have announced the second instalment of their new family of ‘communication entertainment’ phones which promises to not only match, but exceed the standard set by its predecessor: the Sony Ericsson Vivaz.
Even if you didn’t know beforehand that the two mobile phones were ‘related’ just looking at the two next to each other kind of gives it away as the Vivaz looks remarkably like a slimmed down, brighter version of the comparatively blocky Satio.
This isn’t all that surprising as ‘looks’ seem to be one of the main two selling points of the Vivaz, and despite the fact that really it looks nothing like the shape of ‘the human body’ (which is what the publicity excitedly claims) the new design philosophy of ‘delivering beauty inside and out’ has succeeded as it really does look quite nice!
Continue reading »Google Building Maker – Build The World In Google Earth!
October 19, 2009
Google have done a great job in mapping the world, what with Google Maps, Google Street View, Google Latitude and of course Google Earth is a great tool to install and play with, there’s even a Google Earth iPhone app! That kind of flattery would not be coming out of the Multimap PR department, but as the years have gone by since Google originally released those services, they’ve had scores of improvements made to them that have continued to improve it and move them further ahead of the rest of the market.
Well now there’s another addition, and one that will not only improve Google Earth but will give you something to do when you’re bored and looking for a bit of fun – and even better it’s actually (if you’ll excuse the pun) constructive. And if you hadn’t already guessed from the title it’s called Google Building Maker, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Continue reading »Children’s GPS Tracking Watch – ‘lok8u num8′
September 21, 2009
Is there really a need to tag a child with a GPS watch? Well it seems that every day in the press there’s more news about murderers, rapists and generally bad people and although you’d have a case in saying that a lot of this is just scaremongering, the fact that the streets are more dangerous than they ‘used to be’ is one that you’d struggle to deny.
So parents today are faced with the dilemma of either letting their children out to the mercy of the outside world, or restrict their freedom and keep them under tabs neither of which are in any way beneficial to the children in question… and that’s where the num8 Kids GPS Watch comes in.
Continue reading »Garmin Nuvi 1690 Sat Nav Announced
September 3, 2009
The global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the release of the new Garmin nüvi 1690 GPS sat nav. This portable navigation device (PND) has a built-in wireless module which lets the customer use Garmin’s nüLink! service which provides direct links to information such as Google, traffic, cheap fuel prices and weather updates and Ciao! (Garmin’s own location-based social networking site).
In the USA this is the first PND which offers the use of multiple online features in the purchase price as it comes with two free years of Garmin nüLink! access. Unfortunately that only applies to the US version and is not true for the UK version.
Continue reading »Google Street View Update – Smart Navigation
July 4, 2009
The Google Street View interface has recently had some “Smart Navigation” improvements made to it which have certainly been a welcome addition to the service as beforehand as good as we thought it was here at Zath, it could still get a little annoying to use for any extended length of time.
Google Street View (UK) To Get ‘Path View’
May 20, 2009
Over the past few months there’s been a lot said about Google Street View (UK) whether it’s how useful it is now, what potential it holds for future navigation methods or just highlighting people’s concerns over privacy – this even caused a privacy blockade in Broughton stopping the Google Car collecting images.
Well Google have now announced a further addition to Google Street View, it will now be adding a “Path View” by deploying special ‘Google Trikes’ that will carry the now familiar Street View camera around footpaths in specific locations which will be voted for by the public at Street View Suggestions.
Continue reading »HTC Magic Review
May 11, 2009
Vodafone have released the HTC Magic, but the question is, have they got their exclusive hands on a “magical handset”? Back in February as part of our smartphones series we had a look at the T-Mobile G1 which was the first to have the much hailed Google Android operating system, and although the O/S was impressive the hardware wasn’t; but now it is time for the second wave of Android phones, and the first of them is the HTC Magic.
The Taiwanese telecommunications company have been on the rise recently with the HTC Touch HD, Pro and Diamond all receiving acclaim and success. So who better to have a crack at getting the best out of Android; and let’s face it they couldn’t do any worse could they?
Continue reading »Google Street View (UK) Cleared Of Privacy Concerns
April 30, 2009
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has finally given a verdict on the legality of Google Street View going live in the UK, and fortunately for Google (and the millions of people that find the novelty useful and entertaining) it is one that says the online service including the continuing expansion should not be stopped.
This follows claims by many people that it should not be allowed for many different reasons – the most common two being that it infringes people’s privacy, and that it facilitates crime by allowing potential burglars to map out their route and identify weak spots without leaving their home.
However the ICO ruled that although it carries a small risk of privacy invasion removing Google Street View would be “disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment”. It is definitely encouraging to see a watchdog use some common sense – listening to the quiet majority rather than the very vocal minority.
Continue reading »Swine Flu ‘Pandemic’ – Real-Time Tracking With Google Maps
April 27, 2009
No-one can deny that technology has made the majority of our lives that bit better, and in fact we would struggle to live without certain aspects of it (e.g. life support systems). However sometimes it can have some fairly negative effects – such as fuelling the fire of hysteria.
Unless you have spent the weekend in a cave you will know that the threat of a pandemic (which has been prophesised by scientists for years) is now coming from a mutated form of Swine Flu which has originated from Mexico, and cases are popping up across the world; so what better to do than follow it’s spread in real time using Google Maps?
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